In surgical procedures, it is important to minimize trauma to the patient and damage to the tissue as much as possible. For that reason, surgeons try to keep incisions to a minimum while performing surgical procedures. However, the surgeon performing a delicate surgery must still be able to have a clear view of the operating field. Surgeons utilize retractors in an attempt to achieve the goal of keeping the incision to a minimum while still providing a clear view of the operating field.
However, many current retractors have several shortcomings. For instance, it is often difficult to minimize the size of an incision and potential trauma while expanding or changing an operating field because current retractor systems typically provide a limited amount of maneuverability of the retractor blades. For example, some current retractor systems merely include retractor blades that are only able to translate along a limited number of axes. Expansion of the operating field with such a retractor system requires an increase of the incision size due to the translation of the retractor blades.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a new retractor system that provides the surgeon with a greater flexibility to explore and create an operating field and perform surgical procedures in a minimally invasive manner.